Method and system for inserting an advertisement in a media stream

1. A method for inserting an advertisement in a media stream, said method comprising:

in a content access server:

receiving said media stream from one or more content providers, wherein said media stream comprises one or more pre-determined positions for inserting said advertisement;

inserting said advertisement in said media stream at one of said one or more pre-determined positions, wherein said advertisement is selected from one or more advertisements in real-time based on a first metadata associated with said media stream, a location of said one or more pre-determined positions in said media stream, and one or more parameters associated with a user;

delaying transmission of a live broadcast of said media stream when playback of said live broadcast of said media stream starts prior to completion of playback of a first advertisement; and

reducing duration of playback of a second advertisement when said playback of said live broadcast of said media stream starts prior to completion of said playback of said first advertisement, wherein a position of said second advertisement in said live broadcast of said media stream is subsequent to a position of said first advertisement in said live broadcast of said media stream.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said one or more pre-determined positions in said media stream are defined by said one or more content providers.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said one or more pre-determined positions in said media stream are defined by a third party server.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving said one or more advertisements from one or more advertising servers.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving second metadata associated with said one or more pre-determined positions from said one or more content providers.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein said second metadata comprises one or more of: a type of said advertisement, a minimum duration of said advertisement, a maximum duration of said advertisement, a time to start said advertisement, a length of said advertisement, and/or one or more tags and/or keywords indicating context for said advertisement.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising selecting said advertisement from said one or more advertisements in real-time based on said second metadata.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving from a user device associated with said user, a log of one or more user activities associated with said advertisement.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein said one or more user activities comprises one or more of: viewing said advertisement, skipping said advertisement, responding to said advertisement, and/or replaying said advertisement.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising selecting said advertisement from said one or more advertisements in real-time based on said one or more user activities.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein said one or more parameters comprise one or more of: a user's profile, a type of content of media stream played by said user, a user's location, a user's subscription details, a user's billing information, one or more products purchased by said user, a time spent by said user on playing said media stream, one or more settings of said user device, one or more user preferences, time at which said user plays said media stream, information associated with another user device associated with said user, a user category associated with said user, and/or said user's demographic profile.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first metadata comprises one or more of: viewership of said media stream, time of transmission of said media stream, duration of said media stream, a location where said media stream is played, and/or information related to content of said media stream.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing at said content access server, one or both of: at least a portion of said received media stream and/or said received one or more advertisements.

14. A system for inserting an advertisement in a media stream, said system comprising:

one or more processors in a content access server, said one or more processors being operable to:

receive said media stream from one or more content providers, wherein said media stream comprises one or more pre-determined positions for inserting said advertisement;

select said advertisement from one or more advertisements in real-time based on a first metadata associated with said media stream, a location of said one or more pre-determined positions in said media stream, and one or more parameters associated with a user;

insert said selected advertisement at one of said one or more pre-determined positions in said media stream;

delay transmission of a live broadcast of said media stream when playback of said live broadcast of said media stream starts prior to completion of playback of a first advertisement; and

reduce a duration of playback of a second advertisement when said playback of said live broadcast of said media stream starts prior to completion of said playback of said first advertisement, wherein a position of said second advertisement in said live broadcast of said media stream is subsequent to a position of said first advertisement in said live broadcast of said media stream.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein said one or more processors are operable to retrieve said advertisement from a database, wherein said database stores said one or more advertisements received from one or more advertising servers.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein said one or more processors are operable to receive second metadata associated with said one or more pre-determined positions from said one or more content providers.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein said one or more processors are operable to select said advertisement based on one or both of: said second metadata and/or one or more user activities associated with said advertisement.